Over six hundred children and parents thronged Shivers Park in downtown Chipley, Florida on Saturday, April 23, 2016 as the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida presented the 4th Annual ‘ArtKidDoo’ Festival.

The 2017 installment of this high-profile event will take place on Saturday, April 8, and Lynne Eldridge, Executive Director of Early Learning Coalition sat down with Real Florida Magazine last week to discuss the event.

Sponsored in part by the Washington County Arts Council, Head Start, the Office of Early Learning and Real Florida Magazine, the event focuses on children and art, all in a playful environment.

‘If a child goes away from our event without being covered in chalk, mud, soap bubbles, paint or sand’, said Eldridge, ‘then we did not accomplish our goals. Play is the work of the child and there is a fantastic amount of development in a child’s brain during playtime such as this’.

The event features hands-on arts, dance, food and music, all furnished free of charge and courtesy of the sponsors and community partners.

Local public relations firm The Goulding Agency in Chipley, Florida works with Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida in an educational effort to get the word to the public that these services are available.

See photos from the event on Facebook at Real Florida Magazine, online at www.RealFloridaMagazine.org, and listen to this interview, along with other interviews with business owners, community leaders and event organizers on FPTC Radio, the voice of Florida Panhandle Technical College at www.FPTCRadio.com.